Pelosi, Schumer to Meet Biden About Voting Rights Bill

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., will travel to the White House on Friday to meet with President Joe Biden for a discussion on potential voting rights legislation, CNN reports.

The Washington Post reported earlier this week that Democrats were working on a new version of a voting rights bill, with Schumer tweeting on Thursday night: "The fight in the Senate to protect voting rights will continue!"

A source told CNN that Schumer and Pelosi have plans to meet with Biden on Friday to discuss ways to move forward with the legislation.

Democrats, led by Schumer along with Democrat Sens. Joe Manchin of West Virginia, Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota, and Raphael Warnock of Georgia, have drafted a new version of a voting rights bill that they hope can garner enough votes to avoid a filibuster. Manchin said that despite his status as one of the party’s most moderate members and typically a key vote on hard-to-pass legislation, he has not faced pressure from his party to change his mind about the filibuster’s 60-vote threshold.

"Everyone understands," Manchin told CNN. "They've been very, very, very, very respectful of that. They know where I am, and I told them ... we'd lose democracy if we lose the filibuster."

House Majority Whip James Clyburn, D-S.C., told reporters on Friday that House Democrats plan to release the bill’s text sometime next week despite the break scheduled for that time. 

"We are going to get this bill prepared and hopefully announce what it is on Aug 6 — a bill that can go to the Senate," Clyburn said.

Pelosi said about the possible date of the vote: "Let’s not get ourselves too concerned about a date. When it is ready is when we’ll call members back."

She added that the issue "is of the highest priority for us – the sanctity of the vote, the basis of our democracy."

Klobucher, who chairs the Senate Rules Committee, said that the senators at the meeting earlier this week are "very close to an agreement," noting that "we’ve made actual progress. I think if we were just going to say ‘nope, we can’t do this because of Senate rules,’ we wouldn’t keep going."

• More Than One-Third of States Tightened Voting Laws This Year
• Biden Says Congress Must Act on Voting Rights After Top Court Ruling